Captain America is dead. After 66 years of battling for justice, the red, white, and blue-clad superhero now rests in Arlington National Cemetery. Due on U.S. newsstands July 5, Marvel Comics' Fallen Son has Captain America carried to his final resting place by pallbearers Iron Man, the Black Panther, Ben Grimm of the Fantastic 4, and Ms. Marvel.

Captain America was felled by an assassin's bullet on the steps of a New York federal courthouse. He was headed to court after refusing to sign the government's Superhero Registration Act, which would have revealed his true identity.

Asked whether the story line mirrors current events, writer Jeph Loeb said "Part of it grew out of the fact that we are a country that's at war, we are being perceived differently in the world. He wears the flag and he is assassinated - it's impossible not to have it at least be a metaphor for the complications of present day."

Loeb, an executive producer for the NBC-TV series Heroes, says he also used the storyline to deal with his 17-year-old son's death from cancer.

Captain America, whose secret identity was Steve Rogers, arrived on newsstands in March, 1941. He delivered a punch to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler on the cover of the premiere issue. Marvel Entertainment Inc. has since sold more than 200 million copies of Captain America magazine in 75 countries

While Marvel says Captain America may return from the dead, Loeb claimed the real issue runs deeper. "The question is, how does the world continue without this hero? If that story of his return gets told further down the line, great. But everyone's still been dealing with his loss." Loeb said "they aren't going to wake up and it's a dream, like it's some episode of (the 1980s TV series) 'Dallas.'"